Tony’s Column

Tony’s Column

May 22, 2004

A Good Comic

Hi folks. Just recently I was asked “what makes a good comic?” It was something I had to think about because the answer is very subjective. It’s an opinion. So here is my thinking on what makes a good comic: writing.

           Good writing can always compensate for bad art, but good art doesn’t always help bad writing.  Another thing I think makes a good comic is hooking the reader. I mean, a story that gets you so involved that it makes you want to read the next issue. Remember when the Dark Knight Returns first came out or those early Claremont/Cockrum/Byrne issues of X-men? Just after you read them you couldn’t wait for the next issues. These had stories that made you want to come back each issue until the story or storyline was finished.  Who remembers Marvels or Kingdom Come? When you first saw the Alex Ross art and said wow and then read the story and were left speechless because the writing enhanced the feeling of the story. 

           As I pointed out in my last column, the comics that I like right now have hooked me, they want me to come back.  I relate this to when I first started watching “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” on a regular basis. The first time I saw it was during a Saturday night when the hated Maple Leafs were winning on hockey night in Canada and I was doing some channel surfing. I found Buffy on YTV (during season 3) and decided to watch. The episode intrigued me enough to watch again next week, and then the next until I was hooked. 

           A good comic for me does the same thing. The first issue intrigues me, the second issue hooks me, by the third I am wanting more. Obsessive, maybe, insatiable desire, possibly, great entertainment is all I ask for. That’s what the titles from last week columns do for me. As I first stated, this is my opinion. I’m sure there are some elements that I might have missed but if you watch three seasons of Buffy you can see all the old marvel plot devices that were used in the 1970’s and early 80’s that were used to hook many of us into the comic fans (drones, geeks, whatever you want to call us) we are today. I for one am glad to see some of the writers using these old plot devices. Now, if we can only take away some of the power from the editors.

* * * * *

           Before I sign off for this holiday weekend there is one thing I must chime in on: the latest controversy in the comic industry. Barnes and Nobles is publishing a 920 page hardcover Ultimate Spiderman book collecting the first three TPBs from the series. Now I have to ask Marvel this: if I’m a customer that just shelled out $29.99each for three and you are now producing one for $49.95, does it really make me want to buy the rest of them as they come out especially seeing as by the time this collected one see print volume six should be out. If you think that this is not going to effect future sales, ask your Distinguished Competitors about their sales on prestige comics after they released the Kingdom Come TPB and they found out it was cheaper by one whole issue to buy the trade and you received eight extra pages that turned out to be pertinent to the story. I can tell you after my customers found out about this they were not to happy. Granted I sell more trades of prestige series for DC, but I can’t sell the single issues unless some one specifically wants it. This is going to happen with the Ultimate Spiderman hardcover once people get wind of this and Marvel will once again only have the retailers, I mean themselves to blame.  Have a super long weekend and I’ll catch you all next week. Tony

May 15, 2004

What to Read

Hey everyone. For those of you have aren’t on the prairies, we’ve gone from spring to fall back into winter.

           This week I want to talk about some of the comics out there that you may not be reading. This is a good opportunity to list some of the titles I feel people will enjoy. I know that some of you coming into the store have been hearing about me harping on this but Fables by DC/Vertigo is one of the finest comics going. Just the fact that it uses a lot of well know and lesser known fairy tale characters in the present was a real hook for me. With Alias gone, I have been looking for something to fill that void and for me Fables is it.

           Another series you should check out is Liberty Meadows, which features funny animals and humans interacting like in a Bloom County.  And The Incredible Hulk by Bruce Jones: not  since Peter David’s run have I been this excited about a comic. I wondered how could a comic about the Hulk with the Hulk barely being in it could be so good.   Another title that surprised me is Runaways; when this first came out I dismissed it as just another bad title used to fill space, but I have been pleasantly surprised by it and also Emma Frost. 

           Blankets by Craig Thompson from Top shelf is also very good. Thompson will soon be doing a collaboration project with James Kochalka, the man who has given us the very funny Peanut Butter and Jeremy comic.  Some comics that are getting good reviews and are worthy of honourable mentions: The Flash, Wonder Woman, Ultimate Fantastic Four, Robin, Secret Wars, Johnny the Homicidal Maniac, Girl Genius, Lenore, Superman/Batman, and a host of Manga titles. Most of these are available in TPB. You can always pick one up if and when you have extra cash or are in the mood for something different.

           On the horizon: Marvel’s Three Witches, Uncanny X-men, Astonishing X-men, DC’s The Witching, Superman by Azzerallo and Lee, the Books of Magick by Neil Gaiman.  I have a feeling about these books but  only time will tell at this point. Or If you want some of the old standbys: Batman: The Dark Night Returns, Preacher, Sandman, Swamp Thing, Watchmen, Batman Year One, Marvels, Strangers in Paradise, Love and Rockets, James Kochalka’s Sketchbook Diaries, Sojourn from Crossgen, Hellboy, Ultimate Spiderman and Ultimate X-men.

           There are so many decent comics out there it should be one great summer to sit under a tree with a great TPB or graphic novel. Now if the weather on the prairies would just cooperate. Till next Time. Tony

May 8, 2004

Readers versus Reading

Hi folks; after three hours of summer, we are now back to fall in the `Peg. This week I would like to touch upon the subject of readers versus people who just likes to read. I used to be a reader, but now I read books.

           Confused? Hopefully not after you’ve read this. I define the term ‘reader’ as someone who will reads almost any books, comics, newspapers without any provocation from people or the media. These are people who are usually ahead of  the current trend; they look at a book or read a review of a first time author and read it if it interests them. Where as people who like to read books have favourite authors in mind, are willing to try something new but don’t have much time to read, so some of their choices come from friends and colleagues. Now we come to people who read books: these are people who can only read a book or comic if Oprah, Wizard, or the New York Times tells them to read it. You could have suggested the same thing to them six months earlier but until it gets the “Stamp” of approval, they will not pick it up.      Readers will not pick up a book just because it says on the cover “In the tradition of,” or “If you like Writer A and B you will love…” They will pick it up because it interest them. A person who reads books tends to not deviate from the one author they’ve been fixated on until told otherwise.  An example of this is the current trend is what is known as Chick-Lit. These are books written for the “Sex and the City” crowd. Most of these authors have been around for a while but have now gotten some recognition because of the media. I have lots of customers who were into these books before they became popular and are now starting to move onto other books because chick-lit has become formulaic.

           What I’ve noticed happening is the people who read were buying only forensic medicine books (such as Kathy Reichs, Patricia Cornwell) because they were told it was the “in thing” to read; but now switching to authors such as Susan Anderson and Patti Berg.  Or take “Cry the Beloved Country” by Alan Paton or “East of Eden” by John Steinbeck--both interesting books in their own right but no really cared about them until Oprah gave them her stamp of approval. Most people wouldn’t have looked at these books outside of an English class two years ago, but now they top the New York Times bestsellers list. 

           The comic industry is just as bad. A new series comes into a store, a customer comes in an asks what’s good, you tell them and they pass but they ask for what’s in the Wizard Top Ten that month.  However in six months, the same person will come in asking for the comics you recommended to them because Wizard is now saying they’re the hot thing to buy. I know that, due to increasing costs, it is harder to try something new in case it’s not worth the money, but you should at least try something because you find it interesting or because someone who you know with similar tastes says it’s interesting--not  because some celebrity or publisher calls it the next best thing; after all, that’s what they’re paid to do.

May 1, 2004

Culling the Herd

Hey everybody. The weather is finally starting to get a little better around these parts. I had planned to write about the demise of me being a Marvel  Zombie but I think this time I will concentrate on  a few different things. 

           I have been reading some various comics lately and been surprised at how good some of them have been. Runaways, She-Hulk, Emma Frost, Robin, Rose and Thorn: all have been surprisingly well done, and it’s giving me hope that some new stuff out there that is worth reading. Ultimate FF and Marvel Knights Spiderman are also well done.

           But there lies the rub: for every good title that comes out with no fanfare, there is a deluge of titles that we just don’t need. Do we need Marvel Knights 4? Ultimate FF goes with its counter-part, regular Fantastic Four. And Marvel has just learned (with Captain America) that making an established character edgy may not work for the long haul. I guess that’s why his comic back has been returned to the regular Marvel line. As for Daredevil, Hulk, Punisher: these work as more adult oriented comics. For comics like Spiderman, Fantastic Four, Avengers you expect more. It’s Superman you expect to be the All-American- mom-apple-pie guy, where as Batman is the edgier character you wouldn’t want to meet in a back alley. Remember, Batman began as an edgy character, and remained so until all the trouble with the senate committee in the fifties turned him into the running joke character that the TV show were based on.

           Do we need a new Excalibur series? I’m thinking not. You see I have a theory (no, it’s not about bunnies). We could survive with four X-comics a month. Two comics would each feature six regular member teams; the third would use the fringe, edgier characters doing covert/wetworks type operations; and the final comic could relate to the “new” X-men in training.

           Leave Wolverine in his own series. Spider-man could have two on-going series and one running mini-series comic. Marvel can still do all the Ultimate titles because they are treated as a separate universe. For the regular universe, maybe Marvel should aim for quality instead of quantity. Fourteen  years ago when comics were $1.25, they could go for quantity. People nowadays want quality for their money. At $3.50, you don’t want to take too many chances.

           Did you know: last month, DC had ten of the top twenty comics for the month. This is great; it shows diversity, plus a little competition never hurt anyone. The only complaint I have is their efforts seem to be focussed on the short term and not on cultivating long term loyalty. The JLA Byrne/Claremont run, Azzarello’s Batman and with Jim Lee on Superman, Geoff Johns’s Flash: great for the short term, but what happens after they leave? Exclusive contracts are great, but Marvel and DC need to shore up talent after the contracts are up. If they don’t, then they’re  right back to where they started.     So that’s it for this week.

 

April 22, 2004

Trying to Keep a Schedule

When did watching television become a full time job?  Do you remember when you had a show that would be on at one time every week and you could count on it being at that time every week? Sure every once in a while it would be pre-empted because of a breaking news story, but now it seems that in order to get some reality show on for an extra night or an extra awards show, they pre-empt  whatever you are watching. 

          What gives with comics that used to be monthly now not being able to keep a monthly schedule? Does anyone realize that Spawn is one year behind? One year. This is ridiculous. I’ve heard that Eric Larsen is supposed to be cracking the whip and making sure that Image products are out on time. I’ll believe that when I see it. Marvel has finally put out Ultimate Six #7. The series which should have been done a few months ago; does anyone remember it was supposed to be a bi-weekly series? What is with all the resolicitations?  If a project is not ready to go, don’t solicit it. If the writer or artist has health problems and you can’t get anyone to fill-in, then you may have to resolicit the issue. If there is nothing wrong with the writer or artist and they fall behind schedule, get someone else to replace them. Remember Frank Quietly on New X-men? How about Ultimates: three years, thirteen issues. If you can’t do the job on a regular basis, then pitch a mini-series. The company should make sure all the issues are done before they do any promotions or solicitations for it. This can clear up a lot of the problems.

        Back to TV: Angel started to get good, now it’s cancelled. Alias, an action packed show with the extremely hot Jennifer Garner, is doing abysmal in the ratings.  The Simpsons—still putting out some of the finest subtle comedy on  TV—is mired in the middle of the ratings. Why? Reality TV: I know there is a lot of people who love these shows, but I get enough reality looking out my front window or walking down the street. In my neighborhood on any given night I get: Cops, Winnipeg’s Most Wanted, and Survivor just by looking out my window. I know these shows are cheap to produce and  for some reason they have people hooked. Maybe it has tapped something within it’s audience and even the general public at large. Lately, I have preferred reading or watching old TV shows I have taped. Walking, playing sports, anything to avoid Reality TV.  When I watch TV, I watch to forget about the real world. When I read comics, I want to forget the real world, too.  I just ask for simple entertainment, on time and on a consistent basis. Is that so much to ask for? That’s it for my rant this time. Short and sweet. Till next time. Tony

April 15, 2004

Mimicking Television

Hey everybody. I have been trying to figure out what to do for this week’s column. Originally I was going to do “Where have all the interracial couples in comics gone?” but somehow that won’t fill up a whole column.

           What I am going to focus is how much the comic medium lately has been mimicking television.  Television has focused lately less on interracial couples and more on gay couples and this has started to happen in comics as well. Remember Misty Knight and Iron Fist? They’re no longer together. The new comic power couples are gay couples such as Apollo and Midnighter (Authority) or Katchoo and Francine (Strangers In Paradise).      

         Do you remember my column on the death of the mini- series on television; this was done because it was no longer special to do one. My conclusion was that comics should end the mini-series. Maybe they should end the old way of doing the mini-series and instead use story arcs as mini-series. Maybe the end of the regular comic series is coming.

           Do you think I might be wrong? After “Friends” went off the air this year, how many shows are still on the air that have been running  over seven years, let alone ten years? Not many; it seems most shows last as long as five years, the magic syndication number. Comics are starting to follow the suit in doing comics to “syndicate” (ie: trade paperbacks). Most stories are now done in arc’s whether it’s six issues through one book or three issues through three books for three months. I lament for the time of the single issue story. I also lament the time when a TV show would run solid for a season, followed by a solid period of reruns. It looks like that simpler time is gone.

April 9, 2004

Trade Paperback Musings

 Hey everyone. Hope you are having a great Easter weekend. This week I said I’d discuss trade paperbacks. For those not familiar with TPBs: in the book industry, a TPB  is an oversized softcover book. In the comic industry, it’s the same but contains a run of comic issues or works by a specific artist/writer.

           Over the last few years in the comic industry (and to a small extent the book industry) there has been a proliferation of TPBs. Originally in the comic market, TPBs were reserved for something special: a hard to find series or something that was timeless but more affordable in TPB form than hardcover. Now it seems mini-series and story arc are done solely to be put into TPB. Most comics are done in story arcs of 4 ,6, 8, or 12 issues. The single stand alone story is becoming a thing of the past. And now TPBs are being released within a month of a story arc ending; this doesn’t help retailers because when customers find out about this, they choose to wait for the TPB than buy the individual issues. 

           Two of the worst incidences of this have been the Kingdom Come TPB, which cost $6.00 less to buy than all four issues and there were eight extra pages of story. And Marvel published a War Machine weekly mini-series, and the TPB was released two weeks after it was done. Two weeks. For a highly popular series such as JLA/Avengers people hesitated at first to purchase the individual issues. Then when word got out that a TPB might not be seen in the near future because of DC and Marvel’s disagreements, people where clamouring for copies of each issue.

           I wonder what would of happened if everything was kosher between the two companies. I think sales would have been significantly lower. There is a place in the marketplace for TPBs, and I for one welcome them, but I hope it won’t be at the expense of the monthly comic. The mini-series can be sacrificed in favour of TPBs, but not the regular monthly series. Maybe this is a sign of the times and as the comic age base grows older, we’ll want something different than the traditional periodical. I hope not.

April 2, 2004

Comic Detox

Hello everyone. Most of you have probably been wondering, “What’s the column going to be about this week?” Or maybe that’s just me, because I came up with this week’s idea a few minutes ago.

           I wonder how many of us comic fans are buying most of the titles out there because we actually like them or solely out of habit. It could also be said about Nora Roberts or Stephen King books: how many people out there are just buying these authors based on their past glory rather than what they are writing today.

           If it is habit for some of these titles, then when do we go into detox and actually break the habit? Or do we wait for a relaunch and say, “Hey this is a great jumping off point.”

           I did It a couple of years ago with the Legion of Superheroes and I haven’t looked back.  Now I know what some of you are thinking: “What if I have the whole run of a series?” True, it would be hard to stop Action if you had all the issues; but if you started Fantastic Four at #198 and bought it until #416 and then bought the new series and stopped liking it at issue #30 but kept buying it because you have been buying it for a long time, why wouldn’t you consider dropping it?

           In the old days you would ride the wave until the stories got better, but now with all the relaunching that happens all the time, maybe it’s time to start reconsidering a few things. Maybe it’s time to stop beating that dead horse and put the money to something new you want to try. Maybe you should buy the trade paperback that reprints (usually the best issues of a series) the comics or just keep going as is.

           A long time ago I wanted to have a complete set of Marvel. Along the way I found some other comics that peaked my interest (Legion, Love and Rockets, Strangers in Paradise), which moved to the top of my pile and pushed some of the Marvels down. People may think I’m Marvel bashing, but I have to be realistic here. Recently I asked myself: “Tony, how many Marvels are you buying out of habit and how many do you actually like?” At this time it’s a 50/50 split; now Marvel seems to be cancelling all the books I was borderline on (except Alias) or stopped liking once the creative team left and a new one was put in it place. Relaunching (I hope I don’t have to dreg this up again for a while) has helped me and a lot of people STOP buying series and go into our own detox, instead of urging  more people to jump on. 

           Well that’s it for this week. Next week: Trade Paperbacks: Good or Evil (thanks to Fletch’s wife Sue for the nudge on this week’s column and Ron for the nudge on next week’s column). 

March 26, 2004

Death of the Mini-series

Hey everyone; in Winnipeg in one week you can experience all four seasons twice.

           I’ve been thinking what I can talk about this week, so I am going to focus on what used to be a hot commodity but has now become redundant: the mini-series. Remember when you used to look forward to a mini-series  because it was story that maybe wasn’t told before; or a character you liked and you wanted to see what they might do with it.    

           Well I think, and this is just my opinion, the mini-series should be put to rest. Television did it and now I think the comic industry should consider it. Now I’m not talking the twelve issue story arcs that they actually put some effort in, I’m talking about companies saying, “Hey we have three Wolverine titles; instead of waiting for a storyline to wrap up, let’s just put out a mini series by a creative team that is either a) just starting or b) has a half- baked idea that we really don’t want to use in the regular series.”

           Before anyone writes in to say I am Marvel bashing, I’ll point out that all the companies do this, but I’m a Marvel zombie so I tend to reference them more. The only mini-series in the last year that didn’t disappoint was JLA/Avengers. Dark Knight Returns: something DC should never have gone back too. Origin: great. Wolverine The End: so so.

           The mini-series is great for publishing in trade paperback (in some cases at Marvel within a week after the series is over) and selling in the new book stores, but this used to be reserved for something special. Now this is done far too often. 

           If the comic companies are going to keep publishing mini-series, they should at least have all the issues in-house and ready to go before releasing the first issue. Does any one remember when Spiderman/Black Cat #3 came out? Does any one care that only one issue of Daredevil the Target came out? or that Marvel never finished 411?

           If in the future, the next issue in one of these forgotten series does ship, people tend do say, “Oh well I’m not into that series any more,” or “What?! I waited a year for this!” or, heaven forbid, “The last issue just came out a month ago, and now the trade is out and it’s cheaper than buying the individual comics.” 

           Television has realized that the mini-series, which was once a staple, has a time and place and is now reserved only for something really special. Books tried this for a while, with some of the big name authors putting out books once a month for six months, but that wore out quickly once people realized they were paying $30 for the equivalent of a regular paperback.

           So to conclude this week, the traditional mini series should be saved for something truly special; when it is done, all the issues should be done before it is solicited , and it should be kept to a regular format, not prestige.

March 19, 2004

Retread X-Men

Hi everyone; welcome to the first of my many rants. These are columns on how I see things in the comics industry or life in general.

           This particular rant is about relaunching comic series not even two years after the last relaunch. To start, X-men Reloaded: why do we need to do this every two years? It’s become the theme at Marvel now: “If it isn’t broken, let’s tinker with it until it breaks—then we’ll just give everyone something refurbished.”

           If Marvel finds they are having problems keeping creative teams on series then maybe it’s time for them to think of going to a different method of publishing their comics. Maybe it’s time to go from the traditional monthly comic to the doing comics in story arcs. For example, instead of having Morrison/Silvestri create New X-men #151-154, have them in New X-men #1-4. Then instead of the next story arc with Claremont and Davis Starting at #155 to, we’ll say for argument’s sake, #179, it could be New X-men #1-24.

           This would appease Marvel in two ways: 1) It would let them cash in on the number one craze and 2) it would help with their trade paperback format. I know what some of the purists out there are saying: “How would we file these issues in our library’s archives? And what about having too many X-books out in a month?”

           Well, I’m not sure if anyone remembers the Venom series of a few years ago. Marvel managed to keep it going for two years by doing mini-series after mini-series. This approach didn’t hurt sales; as a matter of fact, when certain creative teams worked on the comic, sales doubled. And there wasn’t a lot of complaints. This format would also allow Marvel to gauge whether it’s the characters or the creative teams that are responsible for the success of any given series. 

           On lesser selling books, for example, Iron Man, if  the creative team only had an idea for six months worth of comics, they could do six issues, take some time off, and then do the next instalment story arc whenever it was ready. 

           This idea is just a pipe dream and will never happen, even though by starting and stopping a series, or re-numbering it, Marvel is starting to alienate quite a few older customers.

           Hey, I’m just a lonely retailer so it’s my job to say “Rah rah, buy the new X-men stuff,” but as Pete Townsend wrote, “Meet the new boss same as the old boss.”  Meet the Reloaded X-men, same as the Relaunched X-men and the soon to be featured Revamped X-men or Retread X-men as I will call them. That’s my rant; until next time, Tony

 

 

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